Waffle House Chairman Claims He Was Blackmailed by Housekeeper

Jim Stratford/ Bloomberg News(NEW YORK) — The Waffle House chairman accused of demanding sex acts from his former housekeeper admits to a “series of infrequent consensual sexual encounters” with the woman, but claims he is a victim of blackmail.

“I am a victim of my own stupidity, but I am not going to be a victim of a crime — extortion,” Joe Rogers Jr. said in a statement.

Rogers’ former housekeeper in Georgia has accused him of demanding that she perform sex acts on him as part of her job’s duties over an eight-year period.

The woman, who ABC News is not identifying due to the sexual harassment allegations, filed an incident report with the Atlanta Police Department that detailed the alleged abuse. She accused Rogers of forcing her to perform “various sexual acts on him as a condition of her employment,” according to the police report.

Rogers said that over a nearly eight-year period in which he was “separated, single and re-married,” he had a “series of infrequent consensual encounters” with the woman.

“That was wrong of me and I am very sorry for the pain and embarrassment I’ve caused my wife and family,” he said. “There is no excuse for what I have done.”

Rogers said that the housekeeper worked for him from 2003 until 2008 when she was let go. He said that she re-applied for her job and was re-hired as his house manager in late 2009, working in that position until she resigned in June 2012.

“On July 16, 2012, I received a letter from her attorney containing false allegations and strong threats,” Rogers said. “According to her attorneys, she now wants millions of dollars from me.”

Rogers claimed that he shared a “threatening blackmail letter” with his wife and hired attorneys to investigate. He said he initiated court proceedings in September 2012 and that the housekeeper and her attorneys responded with false allegations and a false police report.

“As personally embarrassing as this situation is for me, I am committed to the legal and law enforcement process to expose the motives of my former housekeeper and her attorneys,” he wrote.

The police report chronicled years of allegedly unwanted sexual contact and graphic details.

“As part of and as a condition of [victim’s] employment, and against [victim’s] will, Rogers willfully, repeatedly and with specific intent to harm and oppress [victim] required [victim] to perform sexual services,” the police report said.

The woman identified herself as a 43-year-old single mother with a high school education and technical college degree in cosmetology who “managed many of the day-to-day operations of Rogers’ estate.”

She said that she needed to keep the job to support herself and her son and could not find a job that paid a comparable salary.

She said that in addition to being forced to perform sexual acts, she was required to purchase pornography, lingerie and sex toys for him. She said he touched her inappropriately and made sexual comments to her.

“Rogers treated [victim] as subservient and required [victim] to perform these various sexual acts on him as a condition of her employment,” according to the report. “Rogers’ conduct toward [victim] was outrageous and offensive and caused [victim] to suffer humiliation, fear, embarrassment and severe emotional distress.”

The woman said she quit her job this year as soon as her son was financially secure with a full college scholarship. Her attorney, David Cohen, did not respond to request for comment.

Waffle House spokesman Pat Warner told ABC News that the woman was Roger’s former housekeeper and was not employed by Waffle House Inc. Warner also said that earlier this year, Rogers transitioned from Waffle House chairman and CEO to just chairman. He directed further questions to Roger’s attorney Robert Ingram, who did not respond to request for comment.